This invention relates to wireless Internet access, and more particularly to enhancing connection time during wireless Internet use.
The Internet is a rapidly growing communication network of interconnected computers and computer networks around the world. Together, these millions of connected computers form a vast repository of hyperlinked information that is readily accessible by any of the connected computers from anywhere at any time. To provide mobility and portability of the Internet, wireless Internet computing devices were introduced and are capable of communicating, via wireless data networks, with the computers on the Internet. With the wireless data networks, people, as they travel or move about, are able to perform, through the wireless computing devices, exactly the same tasks they could do with computers on the Internet.
Regular mobile phones can return calls, check voice mail or enable users to be available for teleconferences anywhere at any time. However, new two-way interactive communication devices, such as mobile devices or mobile phones, would meld voice, data, and personal digital assistants (PDA) functionality into a single portable equipment that is not just reactive to calls but also proactive, through a proxy computer, accessing a myriad of public and enterprise information services in the Internet. For example, a traveler may request the departure time of a next available flight when on the way to an airport, or a trader may purchase shares of stock at a certain price. The pertinent information from these requests or transactions may include the airline and the flight number for the traveler, as well as the stock name, the number of shares and the price being purchased for the trader. To be timely and periodically informed, one way is to electronically communicate the information requests into a mobile device that is connected to a wireless data network. The wireless data network, for example, connects, through a proxy server, to a flight information server or stock quote server from which the desired flight information or the current stock price can be retrieved by the mobile device on demand.
In a circuit-switched network, such as CDMA, a mobile device must establish a circuit in a carrier infrastructure via a wideband channel before communicating with any server on the network. Although the connection may only be needed for a few seconds, many cellular service providers keep the channel open, and bill, in minute increments. Thus, there are often large blocks of time when the channel is available, but no data is being transmitted over the channel. What is needed is a system that enhances the amount of data sent over any open channels.
The mobile station includes a system for using open channel time not needed during access to the wireless web. The mobile station monitors the use of the channel, and determines when the user is no longer transmitting or receiving information. Until the current network session terminates, the mobile station may operate in the background to either send or receive information with the network. Any is action taken by the user would take priority over the background operations.